Reefseeker

May I take the opportunity to thank you - and similar posters - Cambrian, for taking the time to provide such good explanations of the charts you post and what they mean. I learn a lot and I'm sure others do too. On the subject of learning, may I ask, are low heights different from a trough? I note much discussion of eg low heights around the Azores, Biscay, but my understanding is that this is not the same as a trough? Thank you again:)

Thank you so much John, I appreciate you taking the time to explain it.

Do you mind if I ask what that means, when there are no contours over the UK? I can see you have explained that the outcome = mostly dry with cloud around the surface high. But I saw your post previously noting the lack of contours and wondered what it means.

A good sunny morning was followed by towering clouds amongst more sunshine and blue skies plus some brief showers. As with the last two days, convective activity seems to be skirting us, literally by a mile or so. The birds look busy picking up bits and pieces to make their nests, so I imagine torrential rain isn't on their wish list.

It's been a lovely sunny morning, so I'm hoping we might get some storms this afternoon following yesterday's convection giving us a miss.

Some lovely skies circling Surbiton tonight but the storms seem to be passing us to the north and south.

It's been a very cloudy morning and lunchtime here in Surbiton, with only very rare appearances by the sun. We're in the 60% risk zone for the storms but it really doesn't feel that way at the moment. Hopefully some sun will come out this afternoon to get it all primed.

Incoming in Surbiton!

Thank you @Dorsetbred and @dr weather for replying to my question. I've been spending a lot of time this morning on the AQI site! It looks like Tuesday and Wednesday this week were particularly bad for air pollution.

Sorry to ask a silly question, but why is air quality lower with an easterly? Is it due to crossing land and bringing pollution with it? I'm interested in tracking pollution in Bournemouth.

Indeed, I'm a bit jealous of how that started over us and developed when it moved on! It's sunny here now but with dark clouds to the south east as those cells head off. The lads are going for it after the latest radar check, but there's more to come IMHO.

I was supposed to take my son and his friend to Battersea Power Station today, but the train problems put paid to that. They're supposed to be walking to Kingston instead, but we're monitoring the radar carefully...

As reported by @Mark wheeler, that was quite the intense hail storm from this little cell, which expanded overhead bringing thunder and lightning with it.

Right over the top of my mother's house!

Wow, now that was quite the crack of thunder across the sky! I thought a truck had shed its load on the road outside! It's been an interesting day of weather. A fair bit of sunshine and blue skies surrounded by hefty clouds, leading to lots of squally interludes with quite wild winds and heavy rain turning up suddenly, and then the sun coming out again. The trees are currently waving energetically and we're in the middle of a very heavy rain shower. I'm loving the skies, you get those big beefy piles of clouds that are white and grey with the sunshine lighting it all up. Edit... and now it's crazy windy out there again, accompanied by a bit of a roar around the houses!

The skies are getting that convective look about them and a very heavy cell on the radar has passed just south of us. Thank you @Eagle Eye for your convective forecast yesterday. I notice in Nick's storm forecast the mention of a 'sharpening upper trough'. Can anyone explain what that means? Good luck all storm seekers:)

We've spent a lot of time under the brightest bits of the radar this afternoon, with streams now running along the sides of the roads emptying at speed into the drains and a very large puddle on our drive. More incoming by the looks of things. I'm guessing there will be flooding locally.

Quite a rumble across the sky under the bright reds and oranges on the radar.

Hailstones bouncing around all over the place from this lot.

A squall line may indeed have thunder and lightning. This discussion of Storm Ciara from the Royal Meteorological Society covers the complexities pretty well (just an excerpt, they give a lot more detail!): "With 179.8 mm of rain reported in Cumbria and a gust of 97 mph recorded at the Needles on the Isle of Wight, Ciara was a force to be reckoned with. However, some of the most destructive weather was delivered by squall lines; violent bursts of weather that not only bring strong winds and torrential rain but also have the potential to bring hail, thunder and sometimes even tornadoes. A squall line is easily recognisable on a radar image as a line of very intense rain. They can be more than 100 km long and keep their structure for several hours as they sweep the landscape." Squall Lines and Storm Ciara WWW.RMETS.ORG With two deaths, serious flooding and tens of thousands of homes losing power, Storm Ciara has hit the UK hard.

I reckon that's the Harz Mountains in Germany - went there on a school trip when I was a wee teen. Milky grey skies here in SW London but mild, just to keep it weather related.... even if it's not quite in this forum!

Grey, raining and a bit of a breeze here in Surbiton. Happy/jealous about all of you getting in on the back-edge snow. Ah well, we had a light covering that stayed on the ground for a week in December and got to see heavy falling snow in March for a wee while. Am I allowed to say 'winter's over' yet?!

Same here in Surbiton, it feels like it has been raining continuously for hours, grey skies, cold and as you say, puddles everywhere. We even abandoned our usual walk with rucksacks to the supermarket and took the car... which with all the local roadworks, took just as long as walking...

What a difference a short distance makes! Here in Surbiton it's heavy rain:( Seeing your photos from this morning, you also had much heavier snow overnight than we did. Not jealous or anything...;)

Looked out of the window at 5am to see incredibly heavy fat flakes falling. Nothing settled on the roads and pavements but a centimetre or so managed to accumulate on cars, rooftops and gardens. As with others, precipitation has been cycling between snow, sleet and rain. Mostly melted now with drizzle and some occasional strong gusts of wind.